Ocean Choice International has sold off its offshore Nova Scotia scallop quotas to three area companies and is reinvesting the money in local operations.

In turn, OCI has bought up the Greenland halibut, cod and redfish quotas off Newfoundland previously belonging to Mersey, LaHave, and Comeau’s seafood companies.

The company lost its scallop vessel the Atlantic Destiny off Nova Scotia back in March of 2021, fortunately there was no loss of life, but CEO Martin Sullivan says investing in a new boat proved challenging in the current fiscal climate.

“They’re quite expensive now,” says Sullivan, “and with (the) high interest rate environment it’s not something we thought was in the best long-term interest of the business.”

Sullivan calls the deal “win-win.”